Rating: 
Summary: Don't Read It
Review: Kiss the Dust by Elizabeth Laird lacks both the profound meaning and hidden depth in Animal Farm and the lucid, graphic, sensory detail in The Good Earth. The plot did not keep me interested at all. I could basically predict the rest of the book after reading through the first few chapters. Of course, it's quite believable, as the author had consulted with many other Kurdish families and asked about their stories prior to the writing of this book, but the way she compiled the multitude of information was deplorable. Think about it, readers: Tara lives perfectly fine in a luxury home in Sulaimaniya in the beginning, and after a whole story of turmoil (in the mountains, and at both camps), lives safely again. What the author forgot to emphasize in the plot is how this particular family of refugees is unique from others that had similar experiences. What makes a novel's plot interesting is uniqueness and creativity, and Elizabeth's book has none of these qualities.With regard to the pace of the story, Elizabeth falls short again. The uneven pacing and inconsistency between different settings is evident. Although it begins with a moderate pace in Sulaimaniya, it grew excessively sluggish once the family moved to the mountains, and continues to be slow throughout the end of their stay at the first refugee camp. The rest is written like a running cheetah; with almost no detail, she concludes with a short note that they have found a secure residence. Note that "slowness" does not refer to the story moving along slowly due to a myriad amount of detail giving about the situation, it refers to certain unnecessary events she put in, which causes it to be all the worse. The standard for pace is consistency; an author can't choose to make certain portions move like a sloth, and then speed through the rest. This irregularity detracts from the overall quality of the book. There is an amazing lack of interesting details in this book. And while some of the situations were realistic, it was hard to put oneself in that position, because the author gives no detail whatsoever of the surroundings. One the mountains, when the bombers came to bomb their village, unlike what I would have expected, which was deafening noise within my head, I felt as if the bomb was like a ball falling to the floor from one foot high. A few comments about how Tara felt does not make the event more real and does not cut it: how about describing the explosion in a more descriptive manner? This type of writing, focusing more on action/dialogue rather than description is very elementary. The ideal book has about three - fourths description, one - fourth action/dialogue, not the other way around, as Kiss the Dust is written. Another part of the book that lacks detail is their stay at the second camp; the author attempts to end the story very quickly after that, forming a "tiger's head, snake's tail". There are zero methods any reader can put himself "inside the story": the descriptions, if any, were extremely general and gave a vague and smudged picture of the real situation. She makes the reader hope that she had spent more time pondering over what to write about the setting. The dialogue was plain bland. If anything, it was stereotypical everyday talk. As I mentioned before, there are no characteristics of the main characters that make them unique from others in similar situations (i.e. in danger). The characters were stock to the edge, as there was nothing more expected than Tara in Kurdistan worrying about her old home and being nostalgic for her friends. How about delving deeper into the more intimate and meaningful feelings that readers won't guess? The people definitely sounded made - up-how often does a person get stricken with disease in horrible camp conditions, recovers, and becomes healthier than ever before (Teriska Khan)? Then you have another unbelievable and record - setting character, Ashti. With one impaired arm, he manages to save Tara from a raging river in the darkness? Impossible! At least don't make the hero supernatural when he saves the "poor girl"! It is obvious that the author exaggerated the strength and endurance in each character. Sure, the dialogue is "interesting", but only for those who read for excitement and action, not for truth. Again, the author neglects detail, concocting a very superficial composition. One of many instances where this occurs is when the family visits Almaz's house. There was nothing but dialogue and action there, which sincerely frustrates readers who read to live other people's experience, and to be able to put themselves in the book. Her writing style, as seen, is a piece of trash that should be expelled to the worst pupils of elementary education. Look at it this way, the entire story is written with a matter - of - fact tone, with no room for any reader to ponder... the difference between conversation and literature is that literature has something behind the text. The reader needs room to "read between the lines". Other literary devices she can choose to use, but ignores are include the metaphor, irony, satire, symbolism, paradox, hyperbole, and the simile. It may be extreme to say that there isn't a second novel that's emptier, but it unquestionably is atypical for a book in the 8th grade genre. The resolution dealt the final blow, and put the book of garbage in a dark alley full of graffiti. Those who have read the book will understand. With a book already full of unrealistic events, how can a merry ending possibly be tolerated? But that's exactly what Laird does. Imagine how frustrating that is, putting such a lightweight attitude on a situation equal of importance to the World War II Holocaust. A group of people, the Kurds, have no homeland and are forced into the mountains. Elizabeth writes a wide range of unrealistic events, once more, including the family escaping a town full of secret police, Teriska Khan survives a life - threatening disease in a refugee camp, Ashti saves Tara with one broken arm from a raging river, and the entire family lives safely and can start anew. Sounds like a book you might want to read to get a good understanding of the Kurdish plight? Or do you want it to satisfy your imaginative mind? Well, it does neither, and I strongly vote against this book. In a scale from one to ten, I rate it a zero. Don't read it unless you're out of your mind.
Rating: 
Summary: A Kurdish Girl Must Flee The Only Home She Ever Knew
Review: Kiss the Dust by Elizabeth Laird really catches your attention. The book is about a Kurdish girl and her family who must flee their home because of their religion. The family endures many hardships on their journey to safety and freedom. The family must move from their home in Sulaimaniya, Iraq to the mountains of Kurdistan. From their they are driven over the border in to Iran where they must live in horrible refugee camps. Will Tara and her family ever find a place they can really call home ever again?
Rating: 
Summary: Review By Colette Behrent on the good book Kiss the Dust.
Review: Kiss the Dust is an exciting story of a girl ,Tara, who's father is into problems with the secret police. The family must move around a lot and taa runs into different problems and scary situations.
Rating:
Summary: BOOOOOOOOOOOOORING!
Review: Kiss the Dust is an incredibly boring book. I did not like it, I hated it! I would never reccomend this book to any teachers, children, or teenagers!
Rating: 
Summary: Somehow Disappointed...
Review: Tara Hawrami is a thirteen-year-old girl living in Iraq in the 1980's. She has what we would call a normal life-living in a nice house, going shopping with her best friend, and having the mistaken feeling that nothing particularly bad is going to happen to her. But then the inevitable comes. Tara has always known that she was a Kurd, and has maybe even faintly known that Kurds are hated by the Iraqi goverment...but one day, when walking home from school, she sees a teenaged Kurdish boy die for his beliefs. Things all happen in short order after that, and the Hawramis, who find themselves dodging the Iraqi government, find themselves living in a remote Kurdish village that is unlike anything they have ever known. The journey continues when the village becomes the target of brutal bombing raids, and it seems that the family must become refugees in order to escape danger. Experiences in two refugee camps follow, and Tara and her family wonder if their life will ever be what it was before. As I said before, I was disappointed with this book. It seems as if the author had a very promising topic and a character that could potentially make the story seem real to readers. But something seems flawed in this book. Laird's writing style is somehow "detached" and it doesn't really feel like you are "right there" (which is how it should in a good book). In what should have been some of the most exciting parts of the book, I felt kind of bored and ready to "get on with it." Character development seems a little weak, too. We never seemed to really get to know Tara-there was too much time spent telling what she did, not enough time spent telling what she thought. The one great thing about this book is that it lets us know about a conflict, a people, and a time in the not-so-distant past that many of us probably don't know about. I think it's good to read books like this that open our eyes to what's happening around us; it's just too bad that the quality of writing and character development in this book was far from 5-star.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book!!
Review: Tara, a girl risking her life by fleeing from country to country, will never have a home. Tara's dad is in trouble and the police are looking for him. Their family escapes to camps until they get to Iran. Tara's brother, Asher goes to the war with their uncle. Will Tara get to Iran? Will Asher come home from the war? Check out the book and find out.
Rating: 
Summary: Predictably boring
Review: This book probably would have been better if it wasn't the 3rd book i've read about 2 girls trying to escape communism or poverty. It's the same story one of the parents are in danger of being kiled by the government takes off leaves the family the family then meet him in an isolated village of some sort they then find out the town is in danger so they move across a border riskking their lives yet again and in the end they move to a stable home where they live hapily ever after. Have i missed anything out and i didn't even finish it so please tell me if i'm wrong
Rating:
Summary: Get your heads checked you queer sadists
Review: What the hell are you on, this guy must have been stoned, he is mental and needs to be shut in the loony bin.
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